Japanese-Style Strolling Pond Garden

Japanese Garden Designed by Jihei OgawaGarden size : Approx. 1,650m²

This garden is an authentic strolling pond garden constructed as a garden for the court noble's residence in the late Edo Period.
Following this, it was reconstructed in the 1920's by Jihei Ogawa, a notable garden designer of the modern Japanese-style garden.
This garden was reconstructed again in 1980, at the same time as the renovation of Kyoto Heian Hotel.
There is a stone bridge over the pond in the center of the garden, in addition to a waterfall, artificial hills, and a gazebo.
These aspects were all designed to create and maintain a harmonious balance with the surroundings.
Moreover, some original rocks and stones from Kyoto, including Kurama rocks, Kamo rocks and Shirakawa rocks,
were effectively arranged to further enhance the landscape.

Image zooming to click

Stone Lanterns

There are 15 stone lanterns arranged around the garden,exhibiting a variety of styles and shapes. These include the hexagonal yukimi (snow viewing lantern), which stands impressively by the pond, the Kasuga lantern, the Oribe lantern and the mountain lantern.

Waterfall

In general, there are two types of waterfall:
male and female.The waterfall in the garden was laid out in the male style, with the sound designed to be as close as possible to that of a natural waterfall.

Rocks / Stones

In the garden, there are arrangements of a number of precious rocks and stones, such as Kurama Rocks, Shirakawa Rocks and Kamo Rocks.

Kurama Rocks: Mountain rocks found in Kurama, Kyoto. Usually used as stepping stones and as a kind of natural platform for removing shoes.

Shirakawa Rocks: Granite found in the Otowa River basin and in the mountainous Shirakawa area of Kyoto. These rocks are known to have been used in Kumano Shrine and Katsura Imperial Villa.

Kamo Rocks: A rare and precious commodity, known for having seven varieties, and found around the upper reaches of the Kamo River in Kyoto.

Azumaya（gazebo）

This gazebo was built mainly from bamboo, with its kitchen constructed from Kitayama cedar. Inside the gazebo can be found the calligraphy piece,“Ryurin”written by Tantansai Soshitsu. “Ryurin”is a word that represents a dragon-scale-like tree bark of trees, such as that found on old pine trees.

Garden terrace

Our Japanese garden was ranked 4th among the 803 Japanese gardens listed in "The Journal of Japanese Gardening" a special journal published in the United States.

"The Journal of Japanese Gardening"
ー Published in Portland, Oregon, U.S.
ー Began ranking Japanese garden in 2003
ー Ranks gardens base on "quality" of the garden accompanying buildings, rather than on eminence and scale.
ー Highly respected throughout the industry and media.